Trump Thanks Blacks Who Didn’t Vote

According to President-elect Donald Trump, Black voters who stayed home on Election Day were “almost as good” as the ones who voted for him, who came through for him “big league.”

“The African American community was great to us. They came through, big league. Big league,” he said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “And frankly if they had any doubt, they didn’t vote, and that was almost as good because a lot of people didn’t show up, because they felt good about me.”

The rally on Friday was part of the president-elect’s “Donald J. Trump USA Thank You Tour 2016,” in which he is traveling to each state he defeated his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. Trump won Michigan by a very small margin, 47.6 percent to 47.3 percent, according to CNN’s exit poll.

Trump received about just 8 percent of the Black vote nationally, according to exit polls. He was widely considered unfavorable by Blacks throughout his campaign. But Clinton failed to garner as much African American support as President Barack Obama did in 2012, at which time 93 percent of Black voters voted for him. About 88 percent voted for Clinton this year. In 2012, Republican candidate Mitt Romney received 6 percent of the Black vote.

The fact that Trump garnered more of the Black vote nationally than Romney did in 2012 was unexpected given some of his campaign rhetoric. He repeatedly made false statements about all Black Americans living in poverty and inner cities. He repeatedly told Black voters at rallies, “What do you have to lose?”

At an Ohio rally in October, Trump said Blacks live in inner cities and “ghettos.” The word “ghetto” is widely considered an outdated term and is no longer used in mainstream media discussions.

Trump’s rally came just two days after Michigan’s house, which is Republican-led, passed a very strict voter ID law. Michigan voters can cast a provisional ballot without showing photo ID, but they must present a photo ID to their local clerk’s office within 10 days of the election for their vote to be counted. The measure passed 57-50.

Originally, the law allowed voters to cast ballots without showing photo ID, but they had to sign an affidavit and faced perjury if they were lying about their identity. According to The Detroit News, 18,388 residents of Michigan voted this way, of whom about half were from Wayne County — where Clinton won 66.8 percent to 39.9 percent. Wayne County, according to Census data, is 39.1 percent Black. Overall, the state of Michigan is just 14.1 percent Black.

According to Rep. Lisa Lyons (R-Alto), who sponsored the legislation, the bill will “deter and detect fraud, however widespread it may or may not be.”

No cases of voter fraud were reported, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office. Despite repeated studies showing that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, Trump and other Republicans have insisted it is a rampant problem across the country.

Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) pointed to the inevitable confusion the new requirements will create.

“This is going to cause confusion and chaos at the polls,” he said. “There’s going to be arguments, voters aren’t going to understand, and long lines are going to get even longer. Maybe that’s the point.”

As the legislation currently reads, $8 million will be dedicated to “election modernization, voter education and implementation” of the requirements, $2 million will be allocated for free birth certificates and $1 million will be put toward a free ID program.

But Melissa Kovach, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, said this does not cover all costs the bill will burden voters with.

“Waiving the cost of a photo ID does not account for other significant costs that voters will have to pay, including transportation, waiting in line, time away from work or acquiring the underlying documents like a birth certificate,” she wrote in a blog post. “The practical effect of these bills will be to disenfranchise the vast majority of eligible voters who don’t have photo ID or show up on Election Day without it.”

Republicans also represent the majority of the state’s Senate, 27-11. It is unclear if Gov. Rick Snyder (R) will sign the bill, should it pass.

“Gov. Snyder doesn’t decide whether or not he will sign a bill until he is sent the final version as passed by both chambers and has a chance to thoroughly review it,” a spokeswoman for the governor said.

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29 comments

I’m happy they did not too. But this line Dear Trump: “Not all Black People Live in Inner Cities” has some validity as it is said but those who lived in the Inner Cities and moved to the immediate suburbs surrounding those Inner Cities, behind fleeing whites and blacks too, those areas are now plagued with Inner City problems. In some cases worse for in the city trash pickup is free.

This is the one thing I agree with Trump on; Blacks didn’t vote. Forget the problems with the Electoral College. All we needed to do was vote! People kept saying…”He’s not going to win!” I was begging family, friends, and anyone who would listen to just go and vote! Honestly, they just didn’t want a woman. They can call her liar, cheater, crooked Hillary, etc. Trump was all of those things and more. But, because she was a woman, they had a problem with her. I’m still angry with my race! My blood is boiling again.

Blacks didn’t vote (in big numbers) because Hillary took them for granted. She was less inspiring than Al Gore. There’s a reason she would have lost to Bernie if it weren’t for “super delegates”. The first qualification for becoming president is that you can win. She’s a consummate loser.

All we really know is what the exit polls tell us. What if a much larger portion of blacks actually did vote, and voted for Trump? Bottom line is Dems have been in power in just about every large city for more than 40 years. What do nearly all of those large cities have in common? Large inner city areas with predominately black populations living near the poverty line, failing or struggling public schools. and high crime rates. Maybe people just decided to give someone else a chance.

Trump should be thanking the right people: The republican state houses that have worked their hearts out to make voter suppression legal. Even when it is overturned by the courts as in North Carolina, a lot of damage has already been done.
Sad when you say 88% was a poor turnout or that 88% wasn’t enough. Fact is, between the dog whistles, the voter suppression masked as “ID laws”, and the failure to call out congress for the failure to do their jobs, you get someone that is clearly not interested in what is best for America as president.
Before you say anything, I am not giving the democrats a pass. Their candidate was clearly flawed but at the end of the day, the process for republicans isn’t about providing policies that work for the middle class and would make you want to vote for them, it is about getting richer. Greed is truly terrible. I wish the administration well but if the status so far is any indication, the pillage of the village has begun. And then, someone else will have to try and piece together the mess left behind. Oh, and be careful saying anything bad about this guy. His generals may come and get you……..

10% fewer Democrats voted than four years ago. Hillary was not just “flawed”, she felt entitled, privileged and failed to engage voters. She made every possible wrong move, including picking a running mate so bland, his name should be quinoa.

The irony of this election for me is that Clinton is the only possible Democratic candidat who could have lost to Trump, and Trump is the only possible Republican candidate who could have lost the popular vote to Clinton. Losers, both!

I’ll say this, though, it’s on us, not them. We picked them. We get the government we deserve.

All I hear about voter registration and voter ID is that its a burden on the poor. Well the poor have to present a picture ID for any type of government services, utilities at your home, etc. You have to have a photo ID. Sorry but I’m not buying that its a burden. The premise is to verify that the registered are the ones that vote. Not an illegal.

DI says, No cases of voter fraud were reported, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.”

But The Detroit News, 13 December, said “The (ballot) problems were the worst in Detroit, where discrepancies meant officials couldn’t recount votes in 392 precincts, or nearly 60 percent. And two-thirds of those precincts had too many votes.

“There’s always going to be small problems to some degree, but we didn’t expect the degree of problem we saw in Detroit. This isn’t normal,” said Krista Haroutunian, chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.”

Overall I think Blacks did okay. Blacks supported Clinton at very high rates. Black women were among her highest demographic. Of course Blacks came out more for Obama. He was a better candidate and he was black. Black participation in the Obama election was higher than whites and should not be the basis of comparison for any other election. (Unless of course we get another outstanding candidate.)

She was a horrible candidate and did not deserve the votes the received. Bernie would have won. Biden would have won. Warren would have won. A sock puppet would have had a shot. I voted for her, reluctantly, resentfully and with no satisfaction. She is a marginal talent with no discernible convictions except to serve the glory that is Hillary. And the losers who propped her up – Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer (and every other multiple term baby-boomer) need to go. We need new leadership – principled, fresh, transparent, passionate.

10% fewer Democrats voted than 4 years ago and there are more Democrats. I’m not saying they’re passionate (I’m not alone in being disgusted that Pelosi and Schumer are running things), but the president elect won three states by less than 1% and lost the popular vote by 2.7 million because, although he locked up the undereducated white vote, he is disliked by most Americans. She ran an absolutely, completely incompetent campaign.

I don’t think I’m stretching things – the president elect has the lowest approval rating of any president elect, ever. And Hillary was almost beat by a 72 year old socialist, with professor hair, from a state with 600,000 citizens!

Wait and see what happens if there’s any truth to the Russian allegations. There got to be something in there or the far right wouldn’t be churning out the denials, nor would the president elect be tweeting about it.

I’m sure Trump and his party are happy that some Blacks didn’t Vote… However we as black people will stand in line for hours for Black Friday and pair of Jordan’s. It’s not the fact that Trump think all black people are in the inner cities, it’s the fact Trump and his party knew that Black people will not get out to Vote. We came out in record numbers for President Obama and we could not support Hillary campaign. We have seen nothing yet. If we get into another war, believe me , the draft will be enforce and our son’s will be drafted into another war. We as black people need to wake up. We had people to get beaten and killed just to have to rights to VOTE. It’s a shame how we talking about black lives matter and we are killing each other like it’s a norm. Trump is saying he will be in office for the next eight years and if we continue to sit on our butts, he could be correct. I was raised in the 60’s and 70’s and I have seen a lot of hate in the south , north, west and mid west. I talk to young black youth every day and I’m trying to send a message to these young people, that if we continue to bring violent among our people . All we are doing to stopping the reproduction of blacks. I know I will get mixed reaction from this , but this is the way I feel. It’s very sad the rate of back on black crime. Sam cook said a change will come, the rate we are going it’s seems like the change for the worst.

Brother James brown said say it loud I’m black and I’m proud. I will always be a very proud black man and I will continue to talk to our young black youth about talking the high road to life’s journey. We are continue to talk about what Trump is doing and we could have bee talking about what Bernie or Hillary is doing to make this country and life better. Standby for heavy rolls, because there will be some many programs cut and jobs.

Hillary didn’t EARN your vote, she took the Black and Latino communities fore-granted and didn’t say the tough things that needed to be said because she was afraid of offending “swing voter” white people. Most of that population voted for the president elect anyway – because she didn’t say anything of substance to them either. By straddling the fence, you only hurt your butt.

Conviction, passion, empathy are what wins elections. PR mumbo-jumbo, taking the safe route, not expressing any hard conviction whatsoever, selecting a “safe” running mate – all big mistakes made by the Democrats this year.

It’s not the responsibility of Black people to prevent someone from being elected, Black people have proven they can be essential to elect a president – twice.

If you Google “white ignoramus” you’ll find Pianki’s name and the image would resemble a Neanderthal. I’m a life long Democrat and I voted for Hillary as the lesser of two evils. Another reason I vote as an African American is the same reason I graduated from college: The vote, like education, was one of many things racist white AmeriKKKans tried to prevent us from getting.

My vote is a reminder of the sacrifices Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers, Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman made with their lives. I hated that witch Hillary as much as I did her “3-Strikes” Dixiecrat husband, Crying Bubba. I voted for history’s sake; I wanted to see the first woman U.S. president, but I wanted Elizabeth Warren, not Billary. In 2008, I should have known better to think that a half white African could become the first “black” president. I’ll be dead before AmeriKKKa ELECTS (not SELECTS) its first African American president.

George Bush f&cked up so badly that AmeriKKKans were desperate–they selected a smooth-talking pimp and pervert without any moral values. He didn’t get my vote in 2012. Blacks were so disgusted and disillusioned by their false black Messiah O’Bama that they didn’t give a damn who won this election. tRump can’t be worse than reverse racist O’Bama.

Here is something that few people know…’08 primaries I voted for Hillary. At the time I thought and still do that America & her racism was not (and still NOT) ready for a Black president. Under our current administration more people have been deported; more Muslims have been killed and the whopper of them all REPUBLICIANS HAVE FOUGHT HIM EVER STEP OF THE WAY! As evident in the number of executive orders that he has had to make. But he got the nod and he got my vote. In ’16 she got my vote again. Why? Bernie became a democrat the other day and I honestly do not think he would have beat Trump either. A ticket built on white privilege, racism, sexism, hate, misogyny, bigotry, Islamophobia, etc. – gave the America no one likes to talk about a platform and it was widely acceptable to many (too many). Hillary was never going to get the Black votes that Pres. O did – why polls and media keep comparing them – is just BS. Why so many Black folks didn’t vote is because too often we don’t vote anyway. Couple that with the daily sandals, voter suppression and you get what we got! A person with the morals of a sewer rat.

Hillary lost because the Democrats forgot their base, obama focused on LGBTQ and immigrants legislation. After he signed bills into law, support that 90th percentile who put you in office. He slammed us.

I worked 3,000 hours, mostly free IT, never recieved anything but invitations to donate money. Sick to my stomach it made me. There was no way in hell I would ever vote for Hillary after she and her husband ruined generations of young black lives over weed, calling people predators and refusing to step in to make sure there was yellow cake before voting for the Iraq War. NAFTA is a sore spot as well, she opened up the infiltration of Indians to replace Americans that are just as good in technology.

I too stated Blacks supported Trump by staying home. Black men, women heterosexuals supported Trump unapologetically. He knows our troubles, he lives in NYC for God sakes. Working class Whites and Blacks born in this country have something in common, we were laid off and forgotten by those jack-ass donkeys for the last time.

Now we are reading these pathetic stories about hacking. Get over it, you lost. The back doors to servers were either left open or had such easy administrative passwords, a 1st grader could log in. Gmail account password change makes no sense. There was no security on the DNC server. You never allow a gmail account to both send and recieve data. I can see recieving, but not sending. The article in the NY Times is a long read of stupidness. Her staff was inept.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. is a master technologist. He won the elections for Barack Obama. Instead of setting him up due to their jealousies and un-admitted deep seated liberal racism, they should have used him to manage DNC servers.

Karma eventually swings 360 degrees. It went around, they stole the election from Bernie and the chilling, cold-hearted first wife of Bill Clinton lost a shoe-in election that was supposed to be hers in 2008. Obama fooled us into supporting him, he’s done damage we are only beginning to see.

Give Trump a chance. Hes not a corrupt politician. He us a succesful American businessman. The negativity will only continue to divide the country. Give the man a chance.

A girl walking along a path in the winter came across a cobra. The snake was shivering and said “please pick me up and put me under your coat or I will die from the cold.” The girl said “you’re poisonous, you’ll bite me and I’ll die”, The snake said “why would I do that? Give me a chance.” So the girl picked up the snake put her under the coat and the snake bit her. As she was dying, she asked the snake “Why did you do that? Now we’re both going to die.”

But we don’t know what anyone is when we elect them. In my lifetime, the president who most was what the voters thought he was when they elected him probably was Richard Nixon. All things considered, he did a decent job and was credited for it by the public. Unfortunately, his paranoia and insecurity, and his useless fears over his legacy, got the best of him. 1972 was my first presidential election. Back then, I voted Democratic (lived in Chicago), but I know that Nixon could have barely campaigned and still won reelection easily. He didn’t have to burglarize his opponents or get involved in any of other the excesses which characterized his campaign,

I understand, this is your website not mine. But I submitted a long comment yesterday on the subject of universal voter participation and what the consequences of that would be in the United States. It did not get published. What, don’t want this to be an issue?

Perhaps too long. Not incoherent though. The gist of it was that not voting is one way individuals can express their dissatisfaction with a candidate or with the system generally.

I also said that universal voter participation would have certain consequences, notably that working class and lower income people generally would find their influence multiplied. I also pointed to an article in a political magazine I read in the 1980s, which unfortunately I have been unable to subsequently locate, which noted that one large consequence would be a multiplication of the influence of the working class white vote particularly, which could lead to the prevalence of a more labor-oriented but also a more socially conservative agenda. Isn’t that kinda-sorta what happened in 2016?

I also noted that too many people, when they say they want universal voter participation, really mean the universal participation of their voters. The insinuation behind this is that those who point to decreased black voter participation as a critical factor in 2016 presidential outcome, really are wishing there had been increased participation by this demographic of favorable voters. Not increased participation by everyone.